236 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan., 



make much difference, if you have all that, what else you 

 have. Further than that, get a horse that has a good color. 

 So, to sum the thing up, in breeding or in buying, select some 

 of these different types that I have described, and be sure, 

 as I say, that you get a horse having good feet, good clean 

 limbs, good size, with good strong joints, and in breeding be 

 sure to cross those types that go naturally together. What 

 I mean as to that is this ; I have been told many a time that a 

 large horse would not wear well. There never was a greater 

 mistake than that in the world. I have been told, " Why, 

 you will have to go to the blacksmith shop every time you 

 go to town with a horse like that," and then, " that they 

 pound themselves all to pieces." Brother farmers, they do not 

 do any such thing. And then, another thing. I do not believe 

 there should be too much difference in the size of the sire and 

 the dam. There never should be, in my opinion, over two 

 hundred pounds difference between the horse and the dam. 

 We find sometimes a much greater difference than that, some- 

 times that of several hundred pounds, and that is too pro- 

 nounced a difference to get good offspring. That is not the 

 right kind of a cross, in my opinion, for the offspring is quite 

 as apt to partake of the action and motion of the dam as it is 

 of the sire, and if you have a large heavy horse crossed with 

 a dam of much lighter weight you are liable to have a weak 

 foundation. So, be cautious to make a very careful selection 

 as to type or size, and then breed up carefully. 



Another thing. I would not cross a carriage bred dam 

 with a draft horse sire or vice versa. When you have carriage 

 bred blood bred in that way you reduce the size of the draft 

 horse, and do not add at all to its value as a heavy draft 

 animal. When we cross a carriage bred dam with a draft 

 bred sire, we expect to get a larger colt that will sell at a high 

 price, but, for the reasons I have already given you, I think 

 that is a mistake. There will be certain things which will crop 

 out in the offspring that will spoil it for the best markets. 

 A carriage horse wants to be about a certain size and weight, 

 and we should breed to keep it there. In a carriage horse we 

 want something else beside the points common to a heavy 

 draft animal. We want a good, tidy, bright appearing head, 

 good brains, active disposition, and a horse that will travel 

 well. By using a draft horse sire and crossing it with carriage 



